It had been widely thought Wembley was a non-starter because Brent Council only allows 37 major events there a year. A busy Wembley schedule already includes England games, the FA Cup Final, both semi-finals, play-off finals, the Capital One Cup Final and three NFL games.

Both Premier League clubs, regularly playing in European competition, would expect 25 home games per season, making it impossible to fit in with the quota.

However, Standard Sport has discovered the limit does not apply for games where fans are restricted to the two lower tiers. Even in the restricted format Wembley can still hold close to 50,000 fans, which is almost 14,000 more than White Hart Lane and around 8,000 more than Stamford Bridge.

England Ladies played at Wembley for the first time against Germany last November in front of a 45,619 crowd. As the game was in a restricted stadium, it was not classified as one of the 37 major events.

Brent Council has confirmed there are no planning issues to prevent additional games with a reduced capacity.

The unexpected loophole removes a significant barrier if either club decided to negotiate a move to the national stadium — a move that could prove popular with fans, Brent Council and local businesses. A temporary move to Wembley would also boost the FA’s revenues through additional rent. However, it is understood that the cost of renting Wembley, as well as trying to fit games into an already packed calendar at the stadium may prove difficult.

Spurs continue to keep all options open and have admitted that a season at the MK Stadium in Milton Keynes is an option — a move that has been opposed by some fans given that it is 53miles from White Hart Lane.

Chelsea have held talks with the RFU over the possibility of a short-term move to Twickenham.

Spurs are inching closer to building a new stadium next to White Hart Lane while Chelsea are considering ways to expand Stamford Bridge to 60,000, having struggled to find a new site for a ground in west London.